From Friday, November 20, outdoor dining capacity will be reduced to 50 percent and there will be a 10 p.m. curfew in place.
Due to the surge in cases and hospitalizations over the last few weeks, L.A. County officials will be implementing more restrictive measures to slow the spread of the virus. “COVID-19 cases have more than doubled since the beginning of November and hospitalizations have increased from an average of about 900 a day to well over 1,000 a day in same time period,” the county’s announcement states.
Earlier this week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that 41 of California’s 58 counties will be moving back to the most restrictive “purple” tier as of Tuesday, with a more stringent approach to monitoring data within the counties. A statewide curfew was alluded to, but L.A. County has jumped the gun by instituting one from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. for all restaurants, breweries, bars, wineries, and nonessential retail establishments, as soon as Friday, November 20.
These safeguards and restrictions protect the public health and safety of our residents, and their ability to be served in our hospitals. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/no6CMr9Qqz
— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) November 18, 2020
Along with that, there will be a number of measures going into effect as of Friday, according to the announcement:
- Non-essential businesses permitted to operate indoors—including retail stores, offices, personal care services—occupancy will be limited to 25% maximum capacity.
- The number of patrons at outdoor restaurants, breweries and wineries will be limited to 50% max outdoor capacity.
- The number of customers at cardrooms, outdoor mini-golf, go-karts and batting cages will be limited to 50% maximum outdoor capacity.
- Services at personal care establishments may only be provided by appointment to customers wearing face coverings by staff wearing face coverings.
- Services that require either the customer or the staff to remove their face covering, such as facials and shaves, are not permitted.
- Food and drinks cannot be served at these establishments to customers.
- Outdoor gatherings remain the only gatherings permitted, and they must only include 15 people maximum who are members of no more than 3 households.
The county warned that if the rate of cases and hospitalizations increases to 4,000 or more or hospitalizations are more than 1,750 per day over a five-day period, these additional measures will be implemented:
- Outdoor and indoor dining at restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars will be prohibited and these businesses will only be able to offer pick-up and delivery.
If the five-day average reaches 4,500 or more or hospitalizations are more than 2,000 per day, the following restriction will be added:
- A Safer at Home Order will be instituted for three weeks. The Order would only allow essential workers and those securing essential services to leave their homes.
- A 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew would be mandated, with essential workers exempt.
Currently, the county has reported 2,884 cases as the five-day average and 1,126 hospitalized patients.
So it’s up to Angelenos to avoid another Safer At Home order.
[Featured Image: @killakristennn]